After each trip, riders and drivers are given the opportunity to rate one another based on their trip experience.

The rating system works to make sure that the most respectful riders and drivers are using Uber. Ratings are always reported as averages, and neither riders nor drivers will see the individual rating left for a particular trip.

RMIT University gave me an email address in 1992 – s924603@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au – suddenly I had an online identity and could communicate with others worldwide via email and through “newsgroups” on “usenet”. Newsgroups allow threaded discussion between people all around the world on topics of common interest.

For 24 years email has been my primary social network. I bet it’s yours too.

My personal Gmail account – in use for the last 12 years – has 8.85 GB of email messages.

Internet co-inventors such as Vint Cerf, Tim Berners-Lee and Ray Tomlinson provided me with the canvas on which I could begin my professional career that has centred on the commercial use of the Internet. I recognise all of the Internet co-inventors for the roles they played in establishing the Internet – a truly great invention that has had a profound impact on society and the economy.

In 2009, after completing my Masters thesis on Domain Name Usability, I wrote an email to Ray Tomlinson to express my sincere gratitude.

Ray simply replied “Thank you.”

Date: Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:13:39 -0500
From: Ray Tomlinson
User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.23 (Windows/20090812)
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: josh@email.nu
Subject: Re: Thank you for your role in co-inventing the Internet
Josh Rowe wrote:
> Good Evening Ray,
>
> We do not know each other. However, I thought it was important to
> thank you for your role in co-inventing a crucial part of the Internet.
>
> Internet co-inventors such as yourself, Vint Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee
> provided me with the canvas on which I could begin my professional
> career that has centred on the commercial use of the Internet. I
> recognise all of the Internet co-inventors for the roles they played
> in establishing the Internet - a truly great invention that has had a
> profound impact on society and the economy.
>
> I acknowledged you in my Masters thesis which has just got the final
> tick from RMIT University - the full thesis (35k words) and a summary
> (18 page PowerPoint) are available here: http://domainusability.com
> <http://domainusability.com/>
>
> I do not expect you to read my thesis or respond to this email - I
> understand that you probably receive many requests for your time.

Thank you.

Rest in peace Ray – your contribution to the global economy is recognised.

Competition: different ways to navigate the Internet (e.g. search engines, new top level domains, apps, social media)

Growth: flat

Does .au policy need to evolve to meet the needs of all .au stakeholders?

Discuss in the comments section below:

Questions & Answers

Question: “You’ve been on the board for the past 14 years, so you’re not quite an outsider looking to be newly elected. What will another term on the Board enable you to do? How does that compare to bringing in new voices into the organisation?”

JR: “To have auDA members re-elect me for 7 terms is humbling and I’ve never taken that for granted.

I have played an active role in delivering significant change during those years including: domain name policy, competition model, domain slamming, and domain monetisation.

The reason I’m standing again is to seek the opportunity to continue to be an energetic and entrepreneurial contributor to the .au domain name space.

One of the key issues which the next auDA board must consider is whether or not to open up .au for direct registrations. This will require a good understanding of policy, stakeholders and how the digital economy is evolving. I believe I tick these three boxes.

That’s not to say new blood on the board is not important, the current board does have a cross section of directors with a good balance of experience and tenure.

I am very passionate about seeing .au succeed locally and globally.

I expect this to be a hotly contested election in demand class – which is a good thing in itself.”